General Information

Official foundation: March 26, 1772

Location: Latitude S - 30º / Longitude W - Greenwich 51º.

Southernmost capital of Brazil.

Altitude: 10m

Area: 496.684 km2

Relief: The city occupies a plain area surrounded by 40 hills that cover 65% of its area. It is limited by the river shore of Lake Guaíba, which is 72 kilometers long.

Population: 1,409,351

HDI: 0.865 (Capital with the best levels of education, longevity and income in Brazil/UN 2000)

Life expectancy: 71 years

Illiteracy rate of the population aged 15 and over (in %): 2.28

Adequate water supply: 99.35%

Adequate garbage collection: 99.72%

Adequate sanitary sewage: 93.9%

Existence of electricity: 99.9%

Existence of electricity meter: 99.2%

Porto Alegre is the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, a state located on the border with Argentina and Uruguay. Due to its geographical position, whether by air or road, it is easy and quick to reach the city.

Salgado Filho International Airport is one of the largest in the country in terms of international flow, offering direct connections to international destinations in South, North, Central America and Europe.

Porto Alegre is just a two-hour flight from Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay), São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, with connections to several Brazilian cities, including direct nonstop flights. In addition, federal highways connect the city to other states in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Due to its proximity to these two countries, Porto Alegre became a strategic point of Mercosur and the geographic center of the main routes of the Southern Cone, the southern part of the South American continent.

Check out:

Florianópolis: 455 km/ 1h by direct flight

São Paulo: 1,109 km/ 1h30 in a direct flight

Rio de Janeiro: 1,558 km/ 1h45 in direct flight

Brasília: 2,082 km/ 2h50 in a direct flight

Salvador: 3,044 km / 2h50 of direct flight

Buenos Aires: 1,305 km/ 1h35 in direct flight

Montevideo: 800 km/1h30 in direct flight

Panama City (connecting to the USA and Canada): 7h10min direct flight

Lisbon (as a connection to other destinations in Europe): 10h50min by direct flight

Important detail: Porto Alegre occupies a relatively small area, so it is easy to move around the city. Salgado Filho Airport is just 10 kilometers from the center and the urban mobility system allows travel to the downtown area and hotels in an average time of 15 to 20 minutes.

Porto Alegre's climate is humid subtropical. It presents the four seasons of the year, although being located in a transition zone, it is characterized by the great variability of the elements of meteorological weather.

Annual average temperature of 19.5ºC.

- Autumn (March to June)

Between 10ºC and 25ºC.

- Winter (June to September)

Between 2ºC and 20ºC.

- Spring (September to December)

Between 15ºC and 30ºC.

- Summer (December to March)

Between 25ºC and 35ºC.

The timezone of Porto Alegre is the same as Brasília, which is the official time of the country.

With reference to the Greenwich Meridian is minus three hours.

In Porto Alegre, the official Brazilian language is Portuguese. In schools, Spanish (Latin) and/or English (American) are taught secondarily. In some regions, Italian, German and/or French are also taught.